Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog » IThttp://bizblog.blackberry.com
Mon, 03 Aug 2015 00:27:54 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://0.gravatar.com/blavatar/20ac8e1f171f33d226baa862f286c029?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png » IThttp://bizblog.blackberry.com
Yahoo One-Time Passwords Interesting For Consumers, But What Do Enterprises Need?http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2015/04/yahoo-one-time-passwords/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2015/04/yahoo-one-time-passwords/#commentsMon, 20 Apr 2015 15:20:10 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=16069]]>It was last month when Yahoo announced on-demand passwords. According to Yahoo, this new approach is intended to create a secure access environment, without the necessity of remembering a password.

“This is the first step to eliminating passwords,” Dylan Casey, Yahoo’s Vice President of Product Management for Consumer Platforms, as noted by Richard Nieva of CNET, “I don’t think we as an industry has done a good enough job of putting ourselves in the shoes of the people using our products.”

Yahoo sends users these passwords through their mobile phone, by way of SMS. This offers roughly the same level of security as hard tokens; both help eliminate the opportunity for someone to make a copy of the Second Factor Device (SFD). All of this is done in the name of security and simplicity. While those two words amalgamated into a unified concept is ideal, is this the best avenue to follow?

How could someone take advantage of one-time passwords (OTP) via SMS?

Lost or Stolen Phones – though we would like to think that a Good Samaritan will return our property untainted, it’s not always the case. There are some “not-so-good” Samaritans that will seize the opportunity to cash in on a “free phone” or “free data”; especially if it wasn’t properly locked in the first place.

Home Screen Notifications – Some idle smartphones will display the most recently received messages, even from a locked screen. Hypothetically, an individual could gain access by a mere glance, without the true owner’s knowledge, that is, until it’s too late.

False Cell Towers – There have been reported risks and serious architectural concerns about rogue femtocells being used to intercept voices calls and text messages. Similar to malware, someone could get access to an on-demand password before the intended recipient.

While simplifying account access is ideal, the security of the actual account should take precedence. It can be argued that an on-demand password may be beneficial, in a public computer setting – especially so if a keylogger is waiting and listening. But having said that, the on-demand option should be used as a temporary alternative, not a separate option. TK Keanini, CTO of Lancope shared his thoughts about the increasing need to properly manage mobile security with Infosecurity.

“While only leveraging a single factor (something you have – your phone), the security of the system will depend on how secure that device remains over time” That security, must start at the mobile device level; the endpoint.

Two-factor authentication still offers superior protection for accounts, especially when we are talking about cloud services and personal e-mail that employees often use to transfer work files for access at home. A much more reliable option is to do away with OTP hardware tokens and text messaging altogether and transform a smartphone into a security token itself. What to consider with this method:

Take a hybrid approach to VPN authentication with on-premise software partnered with encryption.

Provide various authentication levels for each user group. Not every group/individual needs to have the same type of access.

Determine how much to invest in support and hardware. Permit already existing smartphone to double as a hardware token to keep the implementation costs low.

VPN Authentication by BlackBerry offers steadfast protection, with PKI-based, two-factor authentication and transforms your existing smartphone into an access pass to your company’s VPN, regardless of whether the managed smartphone is running BlackBerry, Android or iOS. This solution eliminates the necessity of receiving and entering in OTP and/or PINs while utilizing a smartphone as a stronger, yet more versatile second factor authentication. That, right there, is a true example of usable enterprise-grade security.

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2015/04/yahoo-one-time-passwords/feed/0Large group of worried business people having a meeting.jaywbarbour42Large group of worried business people having a meeting.Q and A: What Does a Day in the Life of an EMM Administrator Look Like?http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2014/10/emm-admin/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2014/10/emm-admin/#commentsFri, 31 Oct 2014 20:18:46 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=14723/ Read More]]>As end users, it’s easy to get caught up in the benefits that enterprise mobility management (EMM) provides to us and our companies, such as productivity and security. But what is life like for the professionals who manage and support EMM platforms?

In search for answers, I reached out to Kenn Bartlett, an IT administrator with years of experience managing corporate mobile systems. Bartlett works as a messaging administrator for New York-based Inergex, LLC. Bartlett was thrilled to share his story with me on a day in the life of an EMM administrator.

Watts: What does a typical workday look like?

Bartlett: My main focus is always messaging and collaboration, getting the admin server to communicate with the various mobile devices. I interact with a lot of Domino (IBM) products: Lotus Notes, BlackBerry Admin Service (BAS), and Lotus Traveler.

Some clients still run BES5, and its policies are so up to date, I haven’t called BlackBerry for support in over two years. I use BAS to add and remove end users, and have never had issues with activation or mail routing. I rarely have problems arise that can’t be easily resolved by looking through BlackBerry logs.

I work on issues such as devices not being properly set up and communicating with each other, which happen more often than you’d think. I also present EMM or MDM products to clients and guide them on selecting the best ones for their needs.

Watts: I know you have a history with BlackBerry. How did you get involved with it?

Bartlett: I’ve been working in IT for a while, working on Domino administration since the ’90s. I got involved with the BlackBerry platform in 2008. An opportunity came to fill the need for a client to provide BlackBerry administration service, and I readily took it.

The client was a large industrial gas company that needed to share a high volume of information. At that time BlackBerry didn’t have a medium to support this, and I set the client up with a place to share files and collaborate on them. I literally deployed the platform from scratch, creating spaces to help salespeople follow up with leads out in the field using mobile devices. I continued working on the enterprise platform (predecessor to BES) and took it from 4.0 to 4.1, then to 5.0 in 2010. For the past year and a half, we have also been running BES10 as a live demo that we show to our managed clients and prospective customers who are looking for an MDM/EMM Solution.

Watts: How many users/workers do you support today? What are their main needs, especially around mobility?

Bartlett: In North America (including Canada), we support 9,000 users, with 22% of them being BlackBerry users. For end users, our function is to provide server support and give suggestions to solve problems, such as better ways to collaborate, help with current mobile device solutions, and provide tech consulting.

Watts: What do you like about BES?

Bartlett: I love the BlackBerry platform because it allows me to save my clients money. BES’s disaster recovery and high availability features allow the client to not spend money on a disaster recovery solution. Throughout the years, we’ve had clients move on to other solutions and devices, but my platform of choice is still BES, and I’m excited to see what BES12 can bring to the table.

BlackBerry is still at the top of the list for EMM solutions. When I consult with clients, I always show them what BlackBerry can do by setting up pilot environments so they can see it for themselves.

Watts: What other benefits does BlackBerry EMM help deliver?

Bartlett: Unsurpassed security. BES offers the entire package with Triple DES and AES-256 encryption. There’s nothing out there that comes even close to being better. You know all of your information is protected regardless of which version you’re running.

Other things I enjoy include the ability to collaborate through IBM Sametime instant messaging and other Domino applications that are served up flawlessly on BlackBerry devices, and BES’s single sign-on technology.

I also like being able to push policies to different platforms and remote management. Plus the encryption and security are truly second to none. BES5 and BES10 are just solid platforms that work, and BES12 is built from these solid foundations.

Watts: What do you think the future of EMM looks like, and how will that affect your organization’s roadmap?

Bartlett: In general, I think security is going to become a top priority with all of the hacks that are happening globally, and because of BYOD. All organizations will have to take a step back to analyze their policies and hopefully realize that BlackBerry is the best platform. Everyone is going to need separate personal and work containers (on their mobile devices), and I can see healthcare realizing how important this will be in the field.

This may be a little off topic, but key features in the BlackBerry Passport have a bright future in EMM from an end-user perspective. I love that the Passport screen is 1440×1440 pixels, and I can actually see it. The voice recognition is rarely wrong and is a huge advance plus time saver. And BlackBerry Blend is just … wow! You can leave your phone in a drawer while you’re in a meeting and still access your stuff. A phone call can pop up, and Blend gives you the ability to talk from another connected device. It has made collaboration with groups instantaneous.

But most important, as an EMM admin, I’m ecstatic about the upcoming BES12. The ability to manage the BES5 environments that run BB OS7 using the same single interface as BB10, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone is just phenomenal.

Passwords are the worst. Let’s face it. I spent a few minutes this morning thinking about how many I have in general, across my work life and my personal life. I lost count somewhere around 30, and those are ones I actually use at least once a month. There’s a whole substrata of logins and passwords that, thankfully, I don’t need more than once a year.

For work, I use my fair share of apps, both on my laptop and on my smartphone. These days, many of them are cloud-based: things like Salesforce.com, Office365, Box, WebEx, and Workday. So I’m constantly logging in to the critical tools I use to do my job all day long. Some of them remember my identity for a set period, which saves me some pain. But others don’t. And because I work for BlackBerry, I know a thing or two about security, so I use a different password for every tool, and I change them all the time.

I’m not kidding when I tell you I must have to do a password reset once a week. It gobbles up time I could spend in so many better ways. For enterprises, surely this is a productivity problem.

An IT Nightmare

I was complaining to my friend who works in IT about this the other day.

He pointed out that although it’s annoying for me and costly for businesses, it’s even more concerning for people like him. He said, “In most companies, IT has very little ability to see what you’re doing with your cloud apps. I used to install software on everybody’s machines. You forgot your password, I’d help you out. You tried to do something stupid, I made sure you couldn’t. Now, the majority of the key tools employees are using are cloud-based, and IT doesn’t have the control we should. Users choose them and often don’t even tell us.”

This is called shadow IT. ”Real” IT hates shadow IT.

I replied that surely there must be useful solutions to this problem. “It’s a growing space,” he said.

Indeed, my own research shows that Gartner predicts Identity and Access Management (IAM) in the cloud will be one of the top three most sought-after services moving forward for cloud-based models.

But managing your employees’ cloud identities so they don’t have to memorize dozens of passwords – that’s not without its challenges.

Multiple IAM Challenges

“The last company I worked for tried to build their own system to do this,” my friend continued, “but it got expensive and complicated, especially trying to account for mobile devices. Plus, they were reluctant to put their active directory in the cloud. So they paid for a service that appeared to address the need, but the costs kept escalating. It wasn’t a turnkey solution.”

“And who do you trust? If you don’t have full confidence that the system you choose is going to protect your identities from all forms of intrusion, you can’t go there.”

For him, the security issue is an especially hot topic.

He works for a finance company, which needs to comply with many regulations. He told me that while his IT department spends an incredible amount of time trying to cover all their bases for compliance, for many companies, all it takes is one user with one unauthorized cloud app to undo all that hard work.

Is it a question of user education, I asked? It is and it isn’t, he said. “We do a lot of training, but in the end, we need the tools to make sure we’re not relying on users. They need to do their part, but we need control to make sure they don’t mess things up inadvertently.”

As if he wasn’t already depressed enough talking about all this, he reminded himself of another issue: partners. Sometimes they have outsiders coming in for a few days or weeks, and those consultants need to be able to access the cloud-based apps his company relies on. File-sharing is a good example. But when that person’s brief tenure is over, how closely is anyone managing their access to sensitive files? Without a tight, secure system for all this, there are too many holes and too many risks.

How does your company handle it all? Is the enterprise world clamoring for a better, more secure way?

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2014/10/identity-management/feed/0503204541alrehman81503204541Q and A: Software Manager Says BlackBerry Passport is ‘Perfectly Brilliant’http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2014/10/qanda-software-support-manager-on-passport/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2014/10/qanda-software-support-manager-on-passport/#commentsMon, 20 Oct 2014 07:59:20 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=14665/ Read More]]>We’ve already profiled a pharmaceutical research CEO, an insurance salesman, and a university professor, each of whom are deriving huge benefits at work from their BlackBerry Passport.

Allow me to introduce you to Stefan Schulte-Strathaus, a Customer Support Manager based in Germany. Schulte-Strathaus works in the IT industry for a leading software systems and database management company.

Schulte-Strathaus has been blown away by his BlackBerry Passport experience thus far and says it’s getting “more and more perfect” as he uses the device to keep up with clients in his home office or on-the-go.

Watts: What caught your eye about the BlackBerry Passport?

Schulte-Strathaus: I thought it would be a good device to have because I’m always traveling, and need to be constantly connected to my colleagues and staff. I also love the BlackBerry 10 OS and the Hub.

But aside from the great messaging features, I need a physical keyboard to support my working needs. The Z10, Q10, and Z30 were all great devices, but nothing beats a physical keyboard. And I enjoy having a bigger screen to view all of the web pages I need to read.

The BlackBerry Passport is just brilliant. It’s perfect.

Watts: How does this ‘perfectly brilliant’ BlackBerry Passport fit into your line of work?

Schulte-Strathaus: First of all, the battery life is awesome. I don’t have to worry about finding a socket somewhere to keep it charged, which is very useful when you work with clients all around the globe in various time zones that need immediate responses. I’m constantly traveling, but I still need to be accessible. I can also rely on the BlackBerry Hub to get all of my messages and always be available.

Recently, I had a very busy week traveling between London and Barcelona. I carried out the majority of my work using the BlackBerry Passport to schedule a series of conference calls and meetings. I was able to effectively stay in contact with many people via email and phone calls.

Having all of those key functions available in one device, without worrying about the battery life, increased my ability to respond and act faster than I have with any other device I’ve used.

Schulte-Strathaus: Again, the battery life is just great. I took it off the charger Monday at 6 a.m. and by 7 a.m. Wednesday, I still had 28% battery. It was a bit weird that during those two days I didn’t spend a minute thinking it had to be charged. No wasted brain power on frivolous things. My wife has an iPhone, and it’s permanently on the charger.

The calendar app works perfectly with (Microsoft) Exchange. OmniFocus, a task management app, will be my next project to get working with BlackBerry Passport as I usually rely on my laptop to get things done. I’ve also loved how my Android apps have executed flawlessly and run much faster than on my Z30.

Watts: How have you enjoyed the other core experiences?

Schulte-Strathaus: I had some challenges with typing on the keyboard at first, but I’m used to it now and have gotten faster. I’m able to respond to a lot more emails, and it’s much easier to communicate. I appreciate the ability to be more productive without being tied to a desk.

With the BlackBerry Passport I can check an email, easily review any attachments or supporting information based on the quality and size of the screen, then respond to it in a timely manner.

Watts: I can tell you’re really enjoying the device. How would you rate the BlackBerry Passport?

Schulte-Strathaus: Definitely a 10. I’ve had it for three weeks now, and it’s getting more and more perfect.

Schulte-Strathaus: People are pretty interested in it. I have two Canadian colleagues who currently use iPhone or Windows, but I think they’ll switch pretty soon after seeing my BlackBerry Passport. Just the other day I was in a meeting with over 60 colleagues, who mostly have iPhones, and when I took it out they gave it a weird look. But I passed it around for all of them to play with a bit, and they asked a lot of questions. The feedback I received was positive.

A popular refrain ringing through the enterprise mobility community is that IT departments must evolve their mobile management approaches from device centric to app centric. The reasoning is that while mobile devices enable users to do their jobs at any time or from any location, the apps running on those smartphones and tablets are the engines that propel end-user productivity.

Elevating the Argument

While the logic is unquestionably sound, why not push it to the next level?

If employee productivity, which drives business productivity and profitability, is the ultimate aim of enterprise mobility, it only makes sense that the most efficient approach to EMM is one that’s focused on the end user. In the end, only a user-centric EMM strategy will deliver the flexibility and focus required to wring the maximum value out of the mobilization of businesses and organizations.

Here’s a few reasons why.

Workforce enablement, the prized objective of enterprise mobility, cannot be achieved with broad brushstrokes. Workforces of even mid-size organizations are marked by a diversity of roles. Though it’s impractical to create separate profiles for each employee – especially in large organizations — an effective EMM solution is one that allows for the application of policies with a fine brush. IT administrators must have tools that give them the latitude to maximize the productivity of nearly all end users by matching them with the devices, apps and network access policies most suitable to their roles.

This flexibility, injects a measure of art into EMM, that introduced new levels of agility into the enterprise.

No Win Situation

A user-centric approach to EMM also makes sense because it’s aligned with the sensibilities of line of business (LOB) managers and, at some companies, even the CEO. Like it or not, as enterprise mobility increasingly impacts P&L, LOB leaders will have a greater say in shaping enterprise mobility strategy. IT leaders who continue to operate as if their sole reason for being is to protect the network by restricting the number and diversity of devices and applications that access it will find themselves at odds with executive management. And given the bottom-line implications of workforce mobilization, it’s a battle that IT can no longer win.

It follows, then, that a potentially painful byproduct of a user-centric approach to EMM is a shift in mindset of the IT department. At some point, IT workers will have to accept the fact that their job descriptions have been rewritten. They need to remove the friction from their relationship with end users. Adopting a user-centric approach to EMM, where a job well done is measured by end-user productivity gains, is a huge step toward that goal.

Next-Gen Enterprise Mobility

A user-centric approach to IT is also more suited to the next step in the evolution of enterprise mobility. Enterprises are beginning to transition, say researchers at IDC, away from an enterprise mobility phase defined by the impact of consumerization. The massive influx of consumer-oriented devices and applications into the enterprise has forced IT departments into a mostly reactive posture, focused almost exclusively on managing devices. The next phase of enterprise mobility evolution, following IDC’s Mobility Maturity Model, will be focused on end-user productivity and driven by strategy, rather than reaction – the perfect prescription for a user-centric approach to EMM.

In the end, the recent uptake in calls for an application-focused approach to EMM is all well and good. With end-user productivity the principal objective of enterprise mobility, though, a user-centric approach will paint a much more compelling picture.

Ricoh Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Ricoh Americas Corporation, is a document management and services provider with over 2,000 employees. A significant part of Ricoh’s business involves IT services, in which they support 45 locations across Canada providing infrastructure support for mobility, hardware and software, and management of BlackBerry smartphones.

Being involved in IT, having a history of partnering with BlackBerry, and having just developed a field services app, Ricoh spent some time considering BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10. We caught up with Andy Ambrozic, Ricoh Canada’s Director of Infrastructure and Operations, to get his thoughts:

Hi Andy, thanks for joining us. We hear that you’re a big fan of all-touch devices. How you think the BlackBerry 10 touch screen and other features stack up?

Ambrozic: I loved the touch screen on the BlackBerry 10 device. It’s fluid to use and the predictive typing is really good. After a while you feel like it’s adapting to you and thinking for you. The device has a totally different look and feel, with some excellent advances. The size is just right as well. The larger screen is easier to use for viewing different kinds of media.

The BlackBerry Hub experience is also very good. I call it “sneak peeks” because if you’re in one screen and you’re watching a video, you can swipe slowly and get a quick look at new messages or social media updates on the BlackBerry Hub screen. It’s a true multitasking experience.

How do you think BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 supports both user and corporate needs?

The BlackBerry Balance technology that’s a part of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 has the potential to be huge. Full work and personal separation on BlackBerry smartphones will make it easier for our users, but also much easier for IT administrators.

We’re also in the midst of finalizing a BYOD policy. A big issue for our users and our organization is we want to be sure personal data is kept separate from work information. Data integrity has always been paramount for Ricoh IT, so the ability to achieve that is a tremendous plus for the BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 platform. BlackBerry Balance enables that separation so seamlessly.

How much has using BlackBerry solutions benefitted Ricoh Canada so far and where are you planning to go with your deployment now that you have BlackBerry 10?

There are a lot of benefits that come to mind as I look back over the past 10+ years of using BlackBerry solutions. There’s peace of mind with the security. The devices have always had a high degree of ruggedness and reliability. But mostly I look at how far we’ve evolved from paging devices to email to app driven devices. In recent times, BlackBerry smartphones have pointed to the need to develop apps that help extend our internal processes out to the field.

We’ve just developed our own Field Service Automation app on existing BlackBerry smartphones. We’ve tried it on BlackBerry 10 devices and it worked really well. We definitely plan to deploy our app on the new devices. The app gives our field technicians the ability to manage the entire service call from their devices – from dispatch information to GPS navigation, inventory, time spent on a job and so on. All the job information is then sent back to our ERP system so we have an up-to-date record of the entire service call.

How inspired are you to develop apps for BlackBerry 10 devices?

BlackBerry 10 opens up all sorts of possibilities. If you look at the design, the speed, web and browser evolution, the engine and the application development language, I think it’s going to be a lot easier to build and port apps with BlackBerry 10. We’re now looking at developing a number of apps for our mobile users. For example, we may add a bar code reader to our Field Service Automation app on BlackBerry 10 devices so our technicians can read part numbers without having to input them by hand.

Does your business have a BlackBerry app that you’re planning to migrate to the BlackBerry 10 platform? Share in the comments below.

The new BlackBerry 10 platform aims to improve mobility for both businesses and employees. Part 1 of this series discussed how BlackBerry 10 can help to improve businesses by meeting employee consumer demands and lowering costs, among other benefits. Here are 5 more business objectives that IT professionals will be able to achieve with BlackBerry 10.

Develop and deploy enterprise applications

With BlackBerry 10, you can take advantage of the best ecosystem for business app developers. In the weeks leading up to last month’s BlackBerry 10 launch, we saw an exciting acceleration of developer momentum culminating with the availability of key business apps. With BlackBerry 10, enterprise developers specifically have much to be excited about:

Enterprise applications can be tailored to specific jobs and work processes within your company. Your business can deploy BlackBerry 10 applications for your employees through BlackBerry World for Work and manage them securely with BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10).

Increase customer satisfaction

To keep customers satisfied, businesses must adopt an effective framework for internal communication. More specifically, customer-facing employees must have real-time access to critical information in order to accurately assist customers. With the new user experience of BlackBerry 10, your employees will be able to access information in an effective, intuitive manner. In addition, tools for the BlackBerry 10 platform such as HTML5 WebWorks make it easy to develop custom applications for customers to interact with your company.

Reduce staffing costs with global technical support

Are you familiar with BlackBerry Technical Support Services (BTSS)? It’s our global enterprise support program that provides businesses with affordable technical support directly from BlackBerry support experts. For BlackBerry 10, we’ve streamlined the program into three tiers – Basic, Advantage, and Premium – as well as offering BlackBerry 10 Readiness Services. With direct access to a Support Service Specialist as an option at the Advantage tier, you can reduce internal staffing costs while still equipping your business with the technical support you need.

Provide access to critical business information

Whether you are making a presentation, joining a meeting, or making a business decision, it is important to be prepared and well-informed. BlackBerry 10 provides hands-on access to industry news and other business content, mobilizing your workforce with tools to work effectively on the go. With the SAP applications that are coming to BlackBerry 10, your employees will be able to make informed decisions by accessing and interacting with the latest data available.

Simplify your IT manager’s job

Your IT manager faces a mobile landscape that is constantly evolving toward greater complexity. As demands from business users increase, your IT department will need to properly balance mobility and security needs. BlackBerry 10 introduces a mobile platform that meets both the consumer demands of business users and the security demands of IT departments. In addition, BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10) simplifies your IT manager’s job with a single, unified platform to manage BlackBerry, iOS and Android devices securely.

Don’t forget to check out Part 1 of “10 Ways that BlackBerry 10 will Impact your Business for the Better”!

An important goal of the BlackBerry 10 platform is to improve the mobile experience of businesses and their staff. Building on the long-standing reputation of BlackBerry smartphones in the business community, here is a look at several business objectives that IT professionals can look to achieve with BlackBerry 10.

Meet increasing employee demands

The consumerization of information technology has changed the workplace and brought with it increased employee demands. As mobile technology continues to evolve, businesses are under pressure to either provide employees with high-performance mobile devices that offer a seamless experience, or to allow employees to bring in their own mobile tech. On BlackBerry 10, features such as the BlackBerry Browser and Keyboard have been made more powerful and intuitive. In addition, new advanced features such as the flow of BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Hub will make it easier for employees to navigate their phone and manage information, all within the context of our world-class security and management capabilities. With these features, as well as all of the apps available at launch, BlackBerry 10 provides an experience that employees will love and the security and manageability that businesses need.

Increase productivity and mobility

The BlackBerry 10 platform is built for business, providing your mobile workers with secure access to information and internal systems. One exciting BlackBerry 10 feature is remote desktop access provided by app developers like Splashtop. This feature will allow BlackBerry customers to access and control a desktop computer from their BlackBerry 10 smartphone. By using such tools to increase mobility, employees will be able to carry critical business information and tools on the go, thus also increasing their productivity.

Encourage organizational collaboration

Businesses can further look to improve productivity by facilitating a culture of collaboration. Several upcoming BlackBerry 10 apps will help encourage this collaborative culture, such as Cisco WebEx Meetings. This app helps customers with scheduling meetings, sharing screens and sharing content for collaboration on the go. In addition, BlackBerry 10 includes integrated cloud storage capabilities from Box, which allows employees to share files directly from their devices. Supported by the BlackBerry 10 secure environment, businesses can encourage collaboration confidently, knowing that measures have been taken to help make sure that data isn’t compromised. BBM video chat and screen sharing is another example of a fantastic collaboration opportunity provided by the BlackBerry 10 platform, not to mention Documents To Go, Work Drives, and more.

Contributing to lower costs

BlackBerry Balance has been completely redesigned for BlackBerry 10, providing customers with a seamless flow between work and personal use. BlackBerry Balance also helps to lower costs for IT departments by allowing employees to bring their own devices to work. By separating work and personal data, business professionals can use personal online accounts and consumer apps on their work device without needing to worry about unintended interactions.

Integrate your mobile computing capabilities

More than just a smartphone, BlackBerry 10 is a mobile computing platform built to power an entire ecosystem of devices and systems. Businesses can offer their workforce greater connectivity by expanding their focus from just devices to platform-based environments. Designed to support the concept of a “mobile office,” BlackBerry 10 will consolidate desktop computer and phone capabilities into a single, integrated platform. This integrated approach provides IT departments with the versatility to prepare for the mobile landscape of the future. With apps like SAP and Cisco WebEx Meetings, you can extend your existing investment in these services and pursue a truly integrated approach.

What’s one way you plan on using BlackBerry 10 to improve your business? Share in the comments below.

In the early days, smartphones were for work, and were often provided by businesses to their key employees who needed to be connected to corporate information at all times. As the industry evolved, these devices came to be media powerhouses, full of rich applications and a wide potential of use cases. Your smartphone is now your music player, your digital camera, and your hub of communication with friends and family. A challenge arose in businesses worldwide – work data needed to be kept safe and secure, but no one enjoys a locked-down experience. Many employees started to bring their own personal phone from home, but had to continue using their work-issued device, and ended up using each for separate purposes. But where’s the fun in carrying two phones? Some businesses then saw an opportunity to cut costs by allowing employees to connect personal devices to their corporate infrastructure. Thus, the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend was born.

The Bring Your Own Device trend emerges

But with BYOD, a new, evolved challenge emerged for IT departments – the security of work data mixed with personal use can create a multitude of problems for both employees and businesses. Corporate data can be easily compromised due to malware attacks, permissions granted to apps, and the like. On the other side, when an organization performs a remote security wipe, employees can be left without music, personal photos, personal email accounts, and more.

“BlackBerry Balance is our cutting edge solution to the problems
that arise from the BYOD trend; challenges which have developed
over years of smartphone industry growth.”

BlackBerry Balance is our cutting edge solution to the problems that arise from the BYOD trend; challenges which have developed over years of smartphone industry growth. With BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Balance technology, Work and Personal perimeters are created on the smartphone to separate and secure the corresponding apps, connections, and data. The benefits of such technology are significant and relevant.

Security for Administrators, Freedom for Employees

Businesses are now enabled in their mobile strategies; they can connect employees to their infrastructure and promote the use of business applications and behind-the-firewall connectivity. Employees can be more productive, devices can be ultra-functional, and organizations can truly move their work mobile. The work perimeter can be controlled and managed at a granular level with all of the robust functionality that the BlackBerry enterprise mobility management solution provides. The data in each perimeter is protected. It reduces risk significantly, and creates a situation where BYOD can be embraced for all of its benefits.

Employees can be free from work-related restrictions on their mobile devices. Download apps, use the camera, message friends and family, and browse wherever you please. What you do on the personal perimeter of the smartphone is up to you, and your work doesn’t need to control, restrict, or manage this side of the device. It can be truly yours to own, use, and customize. When your organization manages or in the event they need to wipe the corporate perimeter, your information is left intact just as it was before.

How is BlackBerry Balance Enabled?

The recently launched BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 allows IT administrators to configure BlackBerry Balance settings on employees’ BlackBerry 10 smartphones. As an end user, you’ll have the opportunity to set up your work email account, and in the process set up the work perimeter, which is locked by a BlackBerry Balance password that you create.

Toggling between Work and Personal is as simple as swiping down anywhere on the application screen. In the Work perimeter a behind-the-firewall connection is created, allowing you to access work apps through BlackBerry World for Work, an app store created by your administrator, as well as work versions of many applications. If you’re currently running a few apps when you switch perimeters, they’ll remain as Active Frames, allowing for rapid multitasking between work and personal apps.

BlackBerry Hub and the Calendar app are two examples of apps that straddle this barrier between Work and Personal perimeters. Both personal and work email can appear in the Hub. The same applies to the calendar. If BlackBerry Balance is locked, only personal items will appear, alongside work items, which are listed as “locked item”. A simple tap on any locked item will prompt you to enter your password.

The BlackBerry Balance Experience on BlackBerry 10 smartphones

Check out a quick video demonstration of how you can interact with BlackBerry Balance functionality on your BlackBerry Z10 smartphone:

Summing Up…

BlackBerry Balance provides a better experience for end users, and helps to mitigate risk and provide a higher return on investment for businesses. We’ve designed the tools required to tackle current trends in workplace mobility, and are constantly working on helping you tackle future trends that are just around the corner.

Are you an administrator or an end user? How will BlackBerry Balance help you have a better experience?

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/blackberry-10-balance/feed/0lukereim1Security features on BlackBerry 10Security features on BlackBerry 10Application Management with BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 [VIDEO]http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/bes-10-application-management/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/bes-10-application-management/#commentsTue, 29 Jan 2013 15:43:45 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=9645/ Read More]]>As a follow up to our launch of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 on January 23rd, we’d like to share a few of the details around application management and the fantastic capabilities included with BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10. You’ve learned about BlackBerry Balance and BlackBerry World for Work – now check out the console administration aspect with a live demonstration.

Jeff Holleran, BlackBerry Senior Director of Enterprise Product Management, has just set up a BlackBerry device with a BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 deployment, including adding the user to a group. Take a look at what’s next for pushing public apps from BlackBerry World to the device:

Deploying and managing mobile applications can help increase productivity and provide behind-the-firewall access to corporate data, and it’s a critical aspect of a wider mobile strategy. Does your organization manage and deploy mobile apps to its employees? Share in the comments below.

Editor’s note: Special thanks to Walter for helping me with accuracy and real-world applicability!

I’ll admit it – I don’t work in IT. But I get to chat every day with those who do, not to mention a few friends who went into an IT line of work. Plus, at the end of last year we launched the BlackBerry page on Spiceworks – a community of over 2 million IT pros. A few common themes have popped up in discussions, tweets, chats, and calls, and considering that we’re in New Years resolution season, I figured it couldn’t hurt to put down a proposed list of 10 resolutions for IT departments. The list is by no means exhaustive, and may not be completely relevant to your IT department, but that’s where I need your help. Finish it off, tweak it, or give one of the items a digital thumbs up in the comments below.

1. Discover what you can automate, and automate it

This one applies to IT departments and business in general. We all perform common tasks in our work, and one trick to save yourself some time is to automate a few of these tasks – even if you’re just shaving a few minutes off the end of it. Maybe it’s time to organize your contacts, create some e-mail rules and filters, or even write a batch script for installing software. Figure out what can be automated and automate it; you’ll thank yourself when you’ve got the extra time to think ahead rather than putting out fires.

2. Set up remote support tools

For many IT departments, particularly in large companies, support is a major ongoing concern. Adding remote support to your tool belt not only gives you back time from performing the work and/or getting ahold of the employees device or laptop, it can also give you a firsthand look at the issue when compared to support options like phone or email. If you already have remote support tools, ask yourself: are they doing the job? Are there any updates for technology and software in this area?

3. Get help from other IT pros and service partners

No one should have to go it alone, no matter what your line of work. Getting involved in communities of IT professionals like Spiceworks can have great benefits. It’s not just gossip, speculation, and shoulders to cry on – it’s a wealth of experience and individuals with experience in the challenges that you may be facing. I think you’ll find that communities like these have real benefits to your work, and can be a lot of fun along the way. Many IT departments also have service contracts with vendors and partners. Be sure to take advantage of any ongoing benefits that these agreements provide you.

4. Hear what the employees have to say

In many organizations there’s a disconnect between employees and the IT department. Employees can be seen as children running about with tech toys, and IT departments can be seen as limiting access and functionality, hoarding access to corporate data. It doesn’t have to be this way, and I believe that IT departments are or can be significant enablers of efficient work. Toss some surveys out there, sit down and have a chat with key individuals from different areas and levels of the organization, and discover where this relationship stands.

5. Anticipate future challenges, opportunities, and trends

Remember the time that I mentioned you could save automating tasks or implementing remote support? Time to use it. Look ahead and what IT challenges your company may be facing six months from now, or even a few years from now. Keep track of where technology is headed in your industry, such as the increased use of tablets at work. When the future trend projection becomes a reality, and you’re ready with a well thought-out plan, you’ll be a star.

6. Stay healthy, get sleep, and take breaks

I’ve certainly had periods of time in my life where I just wasn’t happy at work. In many cases, however, it wasn’t the work itself that was causing it – rather my personal state of mind. Healthy eating, exercise, and a good work-life balance all have positive effects that spill over into many areas of your life. You’ll be happier, easier to work with, more alert, and able to tackle challenges with gusto rather than trepidation, frustration, and discouragement.

7. Document your processes for the next person (or for you)

We’ve all started a new job at a company and had to climb our way through a pile of learning that was not organized and not easily accessible. And in those situations we think to ourselves, “if only this had been written down somewhere, it would have been so much easier.” Think about the next individual who might be stepping into your role when you move on, and document common processes and/or create onboarding materials. It can even benefit you if you find yourself following a specific and complex series of tasks or steps on a regular basis. Get it down, get it organized, and keep it accessible. You’ll be doing a favor for many, including yourself.

8. Audit your vendors for consolidation opportunities

Particularly in large companies, agencies, vendors, and contractors can stack up over long periods of time. Sometimes they’re even accomplishing the same tasks. Even if they aren’t, perhaps one of these vendors can offer multiple services at a discounted rate. It’s good to perform an audit of whom you have contracted, and consolidate when possible. It saves money in the long run, and perhaps you can return to #8 and take a look at that wish list with the extra funds.

9. Prioritize your IT purchasing list

Like any department, IT has a wish list. Whether it’s new software licenses, server upgrades, or more staff, work out what exactly your list looks like, and get it prioritized. This way you’ll have what’s most important at the forefront, and you’ll be able to seek justification and choose your battles wisely, creating the most significant positive effect possible considering your resources.

10. Enable self-service

If you find yourself buried under the weight of employee tech support, consider how you can enable a self-service model to take some of the strain off on easy tasks. For example, provide simple steps for employees to set up email accounts on their BlackBerry smartphones. The setup app makes it a breeze, and can prevent or reduce calls to the IT department with requests for help. Or, document the instructions for mapping common network drives, or connecting to printers. Get feedback on the how-to articles, and make sure that they’re user friendly.

Hopefully these ten New Year’s resolutions for IT departments can help you kick off 2013 with a great start and an eye for the future. Did I miss any that you think should have made the list? Or, which is your top resolution for 2013? Share in the comments below.

With the launch event scheduled for January 30th, 2013, BlackBerry 10 is now more anticipated than ever by business customers and individuals alike. While video sneak peeks, live demos of the platform, and developer events may serve to feed personal interest, businesses also have a need to get prepared for the new mobile computing platform within their organizations.

Now we’re excited to announce the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program, which is designed to help prepare your business environment for the launch of BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10. We’ll help you transition – at your pace – to an environment that provides device management capabilities across multiple platforms and that includes both smartphones and tablets. The program will help you be ready for the future.

Components of the Program

Think of the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program as a toolkit with options available for you to learn about what BlackBerry 10 has to offer, where to start, how to leverage what you already have, and be prepared for the new mobile computing landscape. The program is rolling out in stages, with the BlackBerry 10 Webcast Series and the BlackBerry 10 Ready Offer kicking off today. The BlackBerry 10 Readiness Services and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server License Trade Up offer will be available in the New Year prior to the launch of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.

BlackBerry 10 Webcast Series

These on-demand webcasts will help you keep on top of all of the latest info, as well as help paint a clear picture of the direction that we’re taking the BlackBerry enterprise portfolio of solutions. The first 4 are available today in the newly designed BlackBerry Resource Center:

Additional webcasts will be announced on a regular basis and will continue to become available leading up to the launch of BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 and beyond. We’ll also be hosting Q&A panel webinars to make sure that you’re getting the information that you need – submit questions in advance to BlackBerryEnterpriseKnowledge@rim.com. For convenience, transcripts of the webinars will be available as a PDF.

BlackBerry 10 Ready Offer (NA Only)

Note: This component is currently only available for customers in North America with BlackBerry Technical Support at the Advantage level or higher. RIM will announce as the offer becomes available in additional countries.

This component of the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program is a straightforward three-step process to help get your IT department ready for action, with a free BlackBerry 10 device to boot (conditions apply – check out the web site for details). If you’ve got a BlackBerry Technical Support Services contract with RIM at the Advantage level or higher, simply register for the program, download and install BlackBerry Mobile Fusion within the promotional period, receive a free Client Access License (CAL), check out some online training modules, pass 3 tests to verify your knowledge, and get a free BlackBerry 10 device at launch*.

These two components of the program will be available in the New Year to line up with the availability of BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10. More details will be available here on the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog, and at the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program web site, so head over and check it out! Let us know if you have any questions in the comments.

We are pleased to announce that BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion 6 Service Pack 2 is now available with updates for Universal Device Service. With Universal Device Service 6.2, enterprises are provided with additional features to securely manage iOS® and Android™ devices in use by their workforce. In addition to quality and performance enhancements, this update helps administrators protect access to Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®; it adds improvements to ease the deployment in the enterprise and provides management improvements in the administrative console.

New Features in Universal Device Service 6.2

Gatekeeping for Exchange ActiveSync: provides enterprises with the ability to limit access to Exchange ActiveSync to managed and compliant devices

Support for Proxy Servers for Outgoing Connections from Universal Device Service: this improvement helps enterprises deploy the Universal Device Service in their existing IT infrastructure

SCEP Proxy for Certificate Provisioning to Managed Devices: enterprises that want to improve security and user experience using certificate based authentication can now provision certificates to devices from an enterprise CA without the need to expose SCEP to the Internet

More Flexible Assignment of Automated Compliance Actions: administrators now have more flexibility in assigning measures to be taken by the system for jailbreaking and app incompliance by users and user groups

Gatekeeping for Exchange ActiveSync

Corporate email is one of the most sensitive repositories of information. As a result, one of the prime concerns enterprise IT administrators have is access to Exchange ActiveSync by devices, which may be out of compliance with the security policies of the organization. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion 6 Service Pack 2 helps IT administrators solve this challenge. Through the integration with Microsoft Exchange servers, Universal Device Service can limit access to Exchange ActiveSync to only those devices that are managed by the Universal Device Service. In the Universal Device Service console, administrators are provided with detailed information about devices that have been granted access or have been blocked from accessing Exchange ActiveSync.

In addition, the Universal Device Service also checks the compliance of managed devices and can use this information to block incompliant devices. In this way, administrators can ensure that access to Exchange ActiveSync will be blocked when devices are jailbroken, and whether users have installed mandatory applications or updates, or if they have installed unapproved applications. Gatekeeping for Exchange ActiveSync is compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

Cross-Platform Device Management

The Universal Device Service is an element of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, which provides cross-platform management for BlackBerry devices, as well as devices running the iOS and Android operating systems. Using the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Studio, administrators are able to manage all devices through a single console.

Get the Update Today

What features are you most looking forward to in Universal Device Service 6.2 update? Share in the comments below.

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/11/mobile-fusion-6-service-pack-2/feed/0stephanh1What Government IT Leaders Are Saying About BlackBerry [VIDEO]http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/10/government-it-leaders-video/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/10/government-it-leaders-video/#commentsMon, 15 Oct 2012 13:15:42 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=8861/ Read More]]>Earlier this year, we published a blog post series on BlackBerry in Government, exploring how governments around the world are solving business challenges with BlackBerry® solutions. We also held a Government Day at BlackBerry World™ 2012 where we spoke with attendees about their government organizations’ mobility needs.

Because government agencies deal with some of the most confidential information in the world, IT leaders in the government sector face unique challenges with data protection, device management and security accreditations. Mobile solutions for government must improve productivity without compromising security requirements.

To find out more about how government agencies are using BlackBerry solutions, we spoke with several government IT leaders. Here’s what they had to say about their experiences with BlackBerry services and products like the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet:

Visit www.upgrademyagency.com to learn more about how BlackBerry can provide your government agency with a complete solution for mobile security, manageability, productivity and collaboration. And stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on BlackBerry solutions in public safety and law enforcement.

Do you work for a government agency that uses BlackBerry solutions? Tell us about a mobility challenge that BlackBerry has helped you resolve.

When IT departments want to solve business issues, they often evaluate all of the products available and find what solutions fit best for the particular problem that they are solving. With the introduction and availability of mobile applications to the general business community, the idea of evaluating the right tools at an in-depth level to solve problems often becomes a forgotten art. Unfortunately a lot of time gets wasted trying to use a hammer as a screwdriver with apps that appear functional, but don’t integrate with your infrastructure or lack on security and connectivity.

The BlackBerry® Enterprise solution contains tools geared toward the enterprise customer when it comes to enterprise application solutions, starting with straightforward connectivity behind the firewall. But it doesn’t stop there. Having the ability to push data to a mobile device offers up many opportunities for solving real business problems.

Take, for example, the idea that executives commonly need to be kept up to date on sales performance, inventory, or business intelligence. With the BlackBerry solution, it is very easy to push that out to your executives via a browser channel or a BlackBerry® WebWorks™ application. For example, you can build in notifications and an icon that shows when that new information is available for them, and once they click on the icon, it can change to show that it’s already been read until a new push is received. All of this can be done using BlackBerry developer tools that are readily available. As an added bonus, the information can be made available offline, such as when busy executives are flying. After all is said and done, you’ve got a fantastic example of a functional enterprise app without the hassle of creating a VPN connection and attempting to connect with company servers behind the firewall. Problem solved!

Now let’s take that a step further and say you have a field service technician who needs to be able to respond in conformity with a specific Service Level Agreement (SLA). The BlackBerry push ability allows you to build in a confirmation that the technician received the notification, as well as acknowledgement back from the technician that the work order has been accepted. In this scenario you’re working towards a higher level of response for the level of service that your customers expect and demand. Again, the problem solved and response time, accuracy, and customer satisfaction can be improved.

We’ve designed all levels of the BlackBerry solution to help solve challenges like the examples mentioned above. The back end servers and management tools, the devices themselves, and the developer resources all come together to provide a straightforward opportunity to design and deploy enterprise apps.

What problems have you solved with BlackBerry enterprise apps? Share in the comments below.

As the trend for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) increases within the enterprise, organizations must establish criteria for an Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solution that provides a balance of freedom for employees and security of corporate data. While end users want freedom of choice when it comes to the smartphones and tablets they use, organizations must address the added risks in security this freedom can bring in addition to potential unexplored issues in critical areas such as compliance, data, liability and support. By successfully deploying an EMM solution, IT can enable a company’s mobile workers and make the business more productive, efficient, agile, and responsive to the needs of the customers and employees.

Here are 7 key factors to consider while in the discovery phase of the search for MDM solutions:

Functionality – for example, how well the solution manages multiple mobile platforms, including BlackBerry®, iOS and Android™

Security features for data in transit and at rest

Reputation and reliability of vendor

Vendor support, including technical, sales, and account support

Management capabilities and policies

Availability of a complete solution

Flexibility of the solution to manage IT and user needs, as well as scalability

The opportunity – and the challenge – of finding the right EMM or MDM solution is to make workers and organizations more productive through enhanced mobility and the expanded use of personal-liable devices. There is no doubt, though, that this is a trend that is here to stay. IT administrators need MDM solutions to deliver the security, management capabilities, scalability and stability required in this new paradigm.

RIM® offers BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion, which provides unified management of BlackBerry smartphones, BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets, and iOS or Android operating systems. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion also supports BlackBerry® Balance™ technology which enables IT to establish and enforce policies that separate personal and business data and allows IT admins to remote-wipe corporate data from devices if necessary, while leaving personal data untouched.

In August, we introduced the next generation EMM solution, BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10). BES 10 is the future of managing your organizations’ mobile deployment with a single platform and the evolution of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, ActiveSync, and BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. BES 10 represents a consolidation of our enterprise mobility management (EMM) product portfolio, which includes our MDM, security, infrastructure, and app management products. In an update scheduled for May 2013, new features will allow you to upgrade your current BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 to BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, providing a solution which integrates with your current deployment.

For many organizations, BlackBerry® Enterprise Server or BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express is the essential platform for mobilizing employees worldwide, and Research In Motion® (RIM®) continues to make improvements and enhancements to the solution. BlackBerry Enterprise Server is recognized as the gold standard in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), which also encompasses Mobile Device Management (MDM).

Features and Enhancements

BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5 Service Pack 4 is available today for Microsoft® Exchange and IBM® Lotus® Domino®, and coming in November 2012 for Novell® GroupWise®. This free update introduces new features for both administrators and end-users. The service pack and all feature updates apply to both BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express deployments. Check out the details below:

Improvements for administrators

Access control rules for groups

BlackBerry Administration Service improvements

The latest security patches and bug fixes are included

Improvements for the End User experience

Improved handling of HTML email messages

Support for larger email attachments

Improved graphics rendering for Microsoft® PowerPoint® attachments

Support for Microsoft Office password-protected attachments

Calendar & message enhancements

Enterprises that utilize Novell GroupWise as their business email platform will be pleased to learn that BlackBerry Balance is now available to address the needs of their employee-owned BlackBerry® smartphones, or to extend the full BlackBerry experience to their corporately-owned BlackBerry smartphones. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.4 update will be available for Novell GroupWise in November of 2012.

Getting ready for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10

We’ve heard it from our customers – your enterprise mobility management needs are changing as you face new trends and challenges, and as you prepare for the future. We’re expanding and consolidating our enterprise product portfolio alongside you to make sure that you’re well prepared, by releasing solutions like BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and designing BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10.

While these are exciting changes, RIM does remain firmly committed to supporting the BlackBerry Enterprise Server well into the future with care and attention paid to keeping security and management up to date with service packs and maintenance releases.

Upgrading to BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5 Service Pack 4 prepares you for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 which will be launching with BlackBerry® 10 smartphones, with an update planned for BlackBerry World™ in May 2013. The May update is designed to enable BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 to be installed on the same physical server that is currently running BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5, enabling organizations to securely manage all of their BlackBerry smartphones & tablets, in addition to iOS® and Android™ devices, from a single platform.

Get the Service Pack Today

This Service Pack is available at no additional charge for existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 customers, and can be downloaded from www.blackberry.com/besupdate

There is no change in server or Client Access License (CAL) pricing. If you currently run BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4, you can upgrade to the latest version of BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 for $999 USD (plus any applicable fees/taxes), or for free for those with Advantage or higher BlackBerry® Technical Support Services subscriptions.

Need help upgrading to the latest Service Pack? Don’t forget that you can always contact BlackBerry Technical Support Services to assist you. BlackBerry Technical Support Services offers both incident-based pricing or annual subscriptions which provide 7x24x365 end-to-end technical support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, and BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry® PlayBookTM tablets. For more information on BlackBerry Technical Support Services, check out www.blackberry.com/btss

In the business industry, things are always changing. In order to keep up with emerging trends and industry news, I do a lot of reading. A couple of months ago, Maribel Lopez of Lopez Research published a study titled “Mobile, Social and Cloud Transform Business and IT” addressing how these three major technology trends are changing business today.

Lopez Research estimates that there will be more than 30 billion connected mobile devices and 6 billion mobile internet users by 2020. As industries like consumer electronics and automotive include mobile sensors in virtually all products, many of the 6 billion mobile Internet users will use mobile technologies as their only or primary connection to the Internet.

Mobility will transform business in four ways:

Connecting Phones, Tablets and the “Internet of Things”: Companies will need to adapt current network connectivity models and plan for a substantial rise in real-time information. Additionally, companies will need to prepare for various interaction models, including people to people, people to things, and machine to machine. Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions like BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion will allow organizations to manage company and/or employee-owned devices on multiple platforms and reduce the risk of lost or stolen devices.

Rebuilding Business Processes to Work in a Mobile World: Because mobility-optimized systems are task oriented, companies will need to change how applications and processes are created. Applications will need to be able to deliver sensory information and be device-aware, location-aware, and network/cloud-aware.

Creating Portable Services: As more people begin to carry multiple mobile devices, content and services will also be readily available at any location. Applications like BlackBerry® Bridge allow you to pair your BlackBerry® smartphone with a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet to access documents, browsing, emails, messagin,g and photos. Also, the Citrix Receiver app allows users to access a virtual desktop with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

Supporting Multiple Personas Per Individual: In the past, enterprise features were locked to a specific device, but as mobility evolves, technology like BlackBerry® Balance™ will enable IT to separate corporate and personal data — essential to supporting a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environment. By separating personal data and applications from corporate data and applications, both the employee’s information and the organization’s information will remain private.

While mobility will create new opportunities for businesses, it also opens up potential security and management risks in addition to “business-process challenges.” As these technologies continue to evolve and embed themselves more deeply in our everyday lives, businesses must prepare to adapt to the changes they will bring. In order to address these risks and challenges, businesses must create a mobile strategy that addresses security and management and support of multiple device operating systems. Lopez research suggests a three-step plan to prepare for the changes mobile brings:

For more about how mobility will transform business and what organizations should do to prepare for the change, read the study: “Mobile, Social and Cloud Transform Business and IT”

Has your organization begun to see any of these changes from Mobile, Social and Cloud technologies? What strategies will you be adopting to confront the transformation?

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/lopez-research-mobile-social-cloud/feed/0lukereim1Tablets at Work: What Does an Enterprise-Ready Tablet Look Like?http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/enterprise-work-tablet/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/enterprise-work-tablet/#commentsWed, 05 Sep 2012 19:25:54 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=8337]]>Tablets are making serious strides in the mobile market, both at home and at work. IT administrators all the way up to CIO’s are faced with this growing trend, and how to integrate these devices into both workflows and the landscape of mobile device management (MDM) within their organizations.

This all brings us to an important point: mobile devices in enterprise, including tablets, need to be managed and secured in order to protect corporate data and reduce liability. It started with BlackBerry® smartphones and the BlackBerry® Enterprise Server solution, and here we are today with the variety of mobile devices exploding, leaving many IT departments in a scramble to keep track of it all. Of course, each IT department is on a different path, facing unique challenges and with unique priorities. But with the growth that’s already happened and the growth of tablets in enterprise that’s expected to come, sooner is better for crafting a strategy to support and manage tablets within your infrastructure.

BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion was designed specifically to meet this need – to reduce the headache of managing multiple platforms with separate tools, consoles, and licensing structures, as well as to ultimately provide a unified means of managing the influx of mobile devices in your workforce, be they smartphones or tablets, Android™, iOS®, or BlackBerry. So what does a managed and enterprise-ready tablet look like? Take a look at the graphic below for a perspective on the ideal enterprise-ready tablet.

Let’s review the picture that we’ve painted of a truly enterprise-ready and managed tablet. The device can be integrated with your existing infrastructure, work data is encrypted, personal data is partitioned separately, VPN and Wi-Fi® profiles can be pushed, IT can remotely manage the device, end user privacy is protected, and it’s loaded with all of the features that employees want in a mobile device.

What’s the most important feature of a “managed, enterprise-ready tablet” from your perspective? Share in the comments below.

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/enterprise-work-tablet/feed/0lukereim1enterprise_ready_tablet_infographic_v1_LR_highres-w600How to Connect Your BlackBerry PlayBook to Enterprise Email with ActiveSynchttp://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/06/connect-playbook-to-enterprise-email/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/06/connect-playbook-to-enterprise-email/#commentsMon, 25 Jun 2012 13:07:01 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=7866]]>We’ve highlighted some of the fantastic features of BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0 on the official BlackBerry Blogs before, such as the unified inbox and communication features, BlackBerry® Bridge™ with remote control, and the enterprise app provisioning solution. Beyond the multitasking, apps, and other features of the OS 2.0 software update, the update also added support for Microsoft ActiveSync technology. This allows for email/PIM synchronization with Microsoft Exchange and many other mail/messaging providers for those who don’t have an IT infrastructure supporting mobile device management with BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion.

Essentially, Microsoft ActiveSync on BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 allows you to connect to popular free mail platforms such as Gmail from Google or Microsoft Live Mail, but also provides the option to integrate with your work email if your business uses Microsoft Exchange or other popular mail servers that utilize ActiveSync.

A Note on Security

While you can likely connect your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to your corporate email server using Microsoft ActiveSync, this is by no means the most secure solution. To securely and manageably connect a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to your mail server, the best route to take is through the BlackBerry® Device Service component of BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion. This provides end-to-end encryption, device management capabilities, remote wipe, and much more.

How to Connect with ActiveSync

Note: You may be required to setup a device password and “work” partition. But don’t sweat it; with BlackBerry Balance technology included, you’re well set-up for personal and work use of the tablet.

The Account Setup process, detailed above, may return an error stating that “Please check your username and password and try again”. The two most common causes for this are:

a) The username or password entered is incorrect.Tap Show Password to ensure the password was entered properly.
b) The Autodiscover Service for your company’s Microsoft Exchange Server is not available.Use the Advanced Setup process to manually enter in configuration details for your account.

What is the Autodiscover Service? The Autodiscover service simplifies the provisioning of your mobile device by returning the required system settings after you enter your e-mail address and password.

1. Tap > Accounts > Add New Account > Email, Calendar, and Contacts
2. Tap Advanced Setup.
3. Tap Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.
a. Enter the appropriate information into all of the fields marked with an asterisk. You may have to consult your IT Help Desk for this information.
4. Adjust the remaining sections as appropriate.
5. Tap Continue.
6. Type a description for the email address and change any synchronization settings.
7. Tap Save.